This invention relates to litters used in the emergency transport of soldiers and other injured persons in field situations and more particularly to a litter tie-down apparatus to safely and effectively secure a patient-supporting litter in place in a vehicle to prevent from the litter from movement, rearward, laterally or vertically during operation of the vehicle in transporting the patient to a medical facility or other safe location.
Litters are well known patient transport devices particularly in field situations such as military battlefields and such, and typically comprise a pair of longitudinally elongated, laterally spaced apart poles which terminate in opposite end lifting handles, a sheet of flexible fabric material being secured in spanning condition between the pair of poles to form a bed-like surface upon which a patient is lain and strapped down. A pair of tending personnel, one disposed at each end of the litter, may then grasp the lifting handles and lift and carry the litter and reclined patient to a rescue aircraft or ground vehicle wherein the litter is secured in place prior to transport to a medical facility.
As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, it is critical that the patient-supporting litter be positively secured in the vehicle against any free movement that may result during operation of the vehicle and cause the litter to slide about or worse, tip over, tumble or otherwise become displaced with potential further injury to the already-injured patient. As will be recognized, travel in a ground vehicle in battlefield terrain can be extremely rough and precarious and travel in an aircraft is also a rough and turbulent ride at times.
Accordingly it is a well known practice to tie or otherwise secure litters down in vehicles in order to secure them against undesirable movements due to the vehicle's motions. However, while the releasable securement of litters is clearly an important aspect in the vehicle transport of litter-born patients, it is also essential that the litter be able to be quickly released from its securement in the event of accident, fire or other need for emergency evacuation from the vehicle. To this end, military requirements and regulations provide that a litter, when secured in the vehicle, must be able to be freed of its tied down securement in the vehicle within 30 seconds time, to assure for timely emergency evacuation of the litter and its occupant in the event of urgent need, such as fire, explosion, crash or other occurrence requiring immediate emergency evacuation of the vehicle.
The present invention provides a litter tie-down apparatus that is specifically arranged to provide for quick and simplified positive securement of a litter in place in a vehicle, and also is arranged to permit quick release and disconnection from the litter whereby the litter is completely freed in very short order for facilitated emergency evacuation of the litter and its occupant from the vehicle.